WAN 2008: Papers are selling like hot cakes - but the young have news fatigue

First off, we got a stream of data collected and collated by the World Association of Newspapers with as upbeat a picture of the paper industry as it's possible to imagine. We were told that there are more titles, more sales and more readers of newsprint than ever before. "The boom continues," said WAN's executive director Timothy Balding.

In global terms, circulations are up 2.57% over last year and 9.39% up compared to five years ago, with an "extraordinary" 1.7bn people across the globe reading a paper in print form every day. He promised us no analysis, just the facts. But he couldn't help himself. After reeling off figures showing continuing sales success, he said: "You would not believe these figures if you read what some people are saying about the imminent demise of papers."

There are signs of decline in the States and Britain but it's nothing to worry about. "They say the newspaper in print is almost dead," observed Balding. "It doesn't matter how many times I hear it, the figures just don't match it."

Well, we'll look closer at those figures some time. But the next session I attended was very different in tone and content. The title was rather clumsy, "The new consumption model for news: why the old routine is over for the 18-34-year-olds", but the message was clear. The coming generation - in the States and Britain - are neither reading newsprint nor consuming news on TV or radio.

According to research by anthropologist Robbie Blinkoff, presented along with Jim Kennedy, director of strategic planning with the Associated Press, young adults are experiencing "news fatigue" because they are inundated by facts and updates which turn them off from accessing the "depth" of news stories.

Based on in-depth interviews with just 18 men and women between the ages of 18 and 34 in four US cities, one in India and Brighton, England, the ethnographic study sought to obtain a deeper understanding of the way young people consume news.

However, they are frustrated by being unable to access good quality in-depth reporting. They are also, as we know, time poor. So they rarely give their full attention to news because they are inevitably engaged in other activities. Their most constant point of contact is a regular use of email. It is usually their first point of contact with other people, and news, every morning.

One fascinating insight: news stories, by their nature, lack resolution, unlike sports and entertainment which generally have a rapid middle and end. This lack of a conclusion is a major reason for boredom among the young.

The study has certainly been taken up enthusiastically by AP. Kennedy says the agency has since designed a new model for news delivery to meet the needs of young adults.

It has resulted in what he calls "1-2-3 filing," starting with a news alert for breaking news, followed by a short present-tense story for the web. The third step is to add details and to format stories in ways most appropriate for various platforms. (This echoes the way in which the Daily Telegraph - and, to an extent, the Financial Times - have approached integrated daily news strategies).